


The Great Escape

by jdmazz



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Minor Character Death, Season/Series 02, Sterek is mostly implied tbh but just roll with it, this is literally nothing but a poor excuse of a fic to talk about sad feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 02:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4811723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdmazz/pseuds/jdmazz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sun had set when the news about a dead body found in the woods came in. It came at just the right time since Stiles felt like he was slowly going insane, flooded with memories of his mother baking him cookies in the same kitchen he was standing in that very moment. He needed to leave the house immediately, needed to get away from the place where he once used to have a happily family.</p><p>To others, looking for a dead body might sound ludicrous to say the least. To Scott? All it took was a short conversation to drag him into it.</p><p>In hindsight, going to the woods that night was the worst idea Stiles had had in ages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Escape

**Author's Note:**

> This was an assignment for uni, actually. It escalated a bit, but the assignment was to take an object and make an adaptation of it - so this is my take on the events of season 1 until 2 and how Stiles felt during all of it. It looks a bit further into his mother's death, as well.
> 
> Sterek is more implied than anything, but okay. This is ancient, I think I wrote it in 2012. Just take it.

Stiles Stilinski wasn’t sure about a lot of things, but he sure could say that his life had slowly been turned into a hardship. He was only sixteen – life wasn’t supposed to be this difficult, and life surely wasn’t supposed to hurt this much.

Not only had he lost his mother due to cancer, but to top it off, his dad happened to be sheriff of Beacon Hills. Seriously. Out of all the occupations his father could have, he just _had_ to be the sheriff.

To Stiles, it meant that he had to deal with the impending doom of another loss hanging above his head every day. Morning after morning, when they said their goodbyes, he prayed that the sheriff would come home eventually, whispering a silent ‘be safe’ every time they split their ways. Every night his father worked late, Stiles didn’t sleep until he came home (which, often, turned out to be the next morning – Stiles had gotten used to not sleeping at this point).

All of that changed the day he convinced Scott McCall to go look for a dead body in the woods. Admittedly, Stiles’ life was a bit different from other teenagers – not every dad clued them in on crimes that happened at work and talked them over together.

It was the highlight of Stiles’ week.

On top of that, Stiles had learned several ways to listen in on his dad’s phone calls and discover news that might have been better left unknown. It was the only kind of adventure that ever happened to him and this time was no exception to the rule – he simply needed the distraction.

Today, he needed the distraction more than ever. Today was the anniversary of his mom’s death and it was all he could think about. Every time he closed his eyes he saw his mother on her death bed, saw the way her skin had paled, the way her eyes had turned empty right in front of him. The pain faded over the years, but never lessened. It certainly never disappeared.

He knew his dad was going through the same amount of pain, maybe even worse, but they didn’t talk about it. Instead, they both just stayed out of the house as long as they could on that one specific day.

The only time he gave it away was when he gave his dad his lunch that morning – an apple, a salad and a bottle of water. He always made sure the sheriff ate the least amount of carbs possible, but today, it was more important than other days.

“Really, Stiles? Fruit and a salad? That’s all?” his father groaned.

Stiles swallowed, looking at his shoes, before he softly murmured: “I don’t want to lose you too.”

The sheriff opened his mouth and closed it almost immediately. After a short silence, he pulled his son to his chest, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m not going anywhere, son,” he promised. It was a promise Stiles knew he wouldn’t (and couldn’t) keep, but he appreciated it nonetheless. After that, his father left, and Stiles stood alone in the kitchen, getting ready for school. At least he’d be able to get out for a while.

\--

The sun had set when the news about a dead body found in the woods came in. It came at just the right time since Stiles felt like he was slowly going insane, flooded with memories of his mother baking him cookies in the same kitchen he was standing in that very moment. He needed to leave the house immediately, needed to get away from the place where he once used to have a happily family.

To others, looking for a dead body might sound ludicrous to say the least. To Scott? All it took was a short conversation to drag him into it.

In hindsight, going to the woods that night was the worst idea Stiles had had in ages.

**\--**

It wasn’t a joke. Apparently, werewolves were _real_ , and Scott had been bitten by one, turning him into a child of the moon as well. How was this his life now?

Essentially, Scott being bitten was Stiles’ fault. If he hadn’t convinced Scott to come to the woods that night, nothing would have happened and they would both be fine right now. If he hadn’t wanted to escape from the memory of his mom that badly, Scott would be human. Not a day went by without him feeling guilty, especially after the clusterfuck of events that sent them into a spiral straight downward.

Derek Hale was the first of those events. He was only a few years older than them and Stiles remembered him quite clearly, but Scott, as always had no idea. This time, Stiles couldn’t blame him. The only reason Stiles knew who he was, was because of his stupid crush on Lydia Martin. In an uncanny turn of events, Lydia’s sister happened to be friends with _Derek’s_ sister, Laura Hale, who also turned out to be the body they found in the woods.

Stiles didn’t expect anyone else to be as creepy as him, but Derek Hale was definitely a person he was acquainted with, even if the acquaintance wasn’t reciprocated.

He now turned out to be a werewolf since birth. Beacon Hills had suddenly turned into the center of all things supernatural and Stiles didn’t like it one bit. Stiles didn’t like that his friend was being used, but there wasn’t much he could do against an alpha werewolf. He was only a human being, no magic super strength involved, and the best he could do was poke the wolves with a stick. He doubted it would do either of them much good.

Stiles was loyal, but loyalty could only get him so far – especially if Scott’s mind was only fixed on Allison and making her his girlfriend.

Out of all people, Derek came to the rescue. He killed his own uncle to save them and they were both eternally grateful, but trust was something they still refused to give to him. Someone who killed his own family member for a few strangers, no matter how evil this uncle may be, surely wasn’t worth their trust.

He was. Worth their trust, that is. Later, they learned, Peter was the only family Derek had left, and he was willing to give that up just for them. It didn’t convince Scott, but it sure as hell convinced Stiles, who knew how hard it was to give up on a family member. He knew, logically, that he wasn’t to blame for his mother’s death, but sometimes, more often than not, he felt like he was.

When his mom first started noticing the symptoms, she had told Stiles about it, but Stiles hadn’t done a thing. He assumed everything was okay, that his mom just had the flu. And sure, he was only ten years old, but she refused to go see a doctor. Stiles could have done something, anything, to make her go. If he hadn’t just sat back and let her die, maybe, possibly, the doctors could have saved her, could have kept her alive so she could still be with them today.

It never let him go. The guilt of being the cause of Scott’s problems as well made his life almost unbearable and the pressure on his shoulders made him tenser every day. Still, he held his head up and smiled, because if he didn’t, the world would cave in.

The world did cave in.

If Stiles didn’t know any better, he’d think he was self-destructive, mingling in dangers that he should have nothing to do with. One time a lizard attacked Beacon Hills. Turned out it was Jackson. Talk about a strange turn of events. Gerard turned out to be a creep. A pack of alpha males took Erica and Boyd.

Stiles came to the rescue time and time again, because he couldn’t abandon his best friend… Even if all he seemed to care about was his girlfriend. He was their token human, after all. If saving his friends’ asses was all he was good for, then so be it. He couldn’t bear to lose another person, let alone Scott.

It wasn’t until much, _much_ later that Stiles found out why Derek didn’t seem to trust him still, even after all he had done for him and his pack. Eventually, long after Derek had convinced Erica, Isaac and Boyd to join his pack, he discovered what happened. If it wasn’t for Allison Argent, he would’ve never known. Coming from a family of hunters, Allison knew about a lot more secrets than Stiles ever gave her credit for. As it turned out, Derek’s story was even more tragic than his.

She’d told him that Derek had lost all his family in a fire, except for his sister and Peter. Stiles had known as much. What he wasn’t aware of, was that Kate Argent was to blame. had played the role of the love of Derek’s life – as much as teenage love could be counted as true love, anyway. Derek had been Stiles’ age at the time and had fallen head over heels for her. What Derek didn’t know, was that she was also a werewolf hunter, just like her brother and father. The only goal she had was to take down the werewolf pack, and if she had to use Derek to accomplish that, she would. A broken heart or two was well worth the cause, she’d figured. And she succeeded. Derek was completely alone now.

After that, Stiles had gotten a lot more sympathy for the alpha. He knew like no other what it felt like to lose family, not to mention how it was to feel _responsible_. For Derek, the guilt must have been unbearable. Suddenly, everything started making sense to Stiles – how Derek never seemed to let anyone in, not even his pack. How Derek went rigid every time they passed the burned remainders of the Hale house. How Derek never smiled.

Starting that moment, Stiles decided that he would make Derek feel as welcome as Scott had made him feel back in the day. That’s what he told Scott, anyway, and it was what convinced Scott to finally join Derek’s pack. His own personal goal, however, was to bring a smile to Derek’s face, even if it was a little one. Even Derek deserved to be happy.

A year later, on the anniversary of his mom’s death, Derek sat in Stiles’ kitchen. All Stiles could focus on this time was not his mom’s death – it was the huge grin that was painted across Derek’s face.

_Mission accomplished._

 


End file.
